Some of my favourite phrases from this review include “morally
piebald” and “the damaging innocence of adults.” I really like the last sentence, too: “Nawaz’s
emphasis on the importance of mothering raises the question of how vulnerable
children truly are, as well as the adults they become.” I’ve never described
the collection that way (but I find talking about my own writing, especially in
a summarizing or thematic sense, very difficult), but this strikes me as very
accurate. It really is more about the vulnerability of children than it is
about bad or indifferent mothers. Jay, I will probably be quoting you on this
for the indefinite future, if that’s okay.

Itty bitty radio studio at CBC

In other writing-related news, I was so happy to be invited
in to CBC Radio to take the 5 à 6 Culture Quiz as part of the show's 2013 round-up. I’m kind
of a disaster at thinking on my feet when it comes to these things (What’s your
favourite boutique? Uhhh…I blanked. Most intriguing artwork you’ve seen this
year? Uh, art? What’s that?!?), but I’m hoping the magic of editing will remove
some of my ridiculousness on that front. The lesson learned from this is that
spontaneity is not my friend (which I already knew). In spite of feeling like
no amount of coffee could make my brain work properly, it was really fun to go
in and do the taping in a teeny tiny little studio and meet the lovely Tanya Birkbeck and
Jeanette Kelly. From what I understand, it will air on the show tomorrow.